The use of bioaugmentation, i.e., the addition of non-indigenous bacteria to a wastewater to effect more complete treatment and purification of the water, is becoming more and more necessary as municipal sewage plants age and demands brought on by increasing loads require improvements in efficiency. Bioaugmentation, also called bacterial augmentation, can be beneficial in a number of applications. For example, bacterial augmentation can improve the quality and efficiency of treatment of municipal wastewater, food processing wastewater, and residential wastewater, especially in on-site disposal systems such as septic tanks and cesspools, pretreatment of wastewater that might contain high levels of oleaginous matter, and treatment of pipes, traps, plumbing systems and grease traps.
Enzyme-producing bacteria also have agriculture uses as silage inoculant products to improve efficiency and production of livestock that consume the treated silage. Certain bacteria, called Direct Fed Microbials, may also be added to livestock feeds to increase food digestion and utilization. Currently both Bacillus subtilis and Bacillus pumilus have were found by the Food and Drug Administration to present no safety concerns when used in direct-fed microbial products, as published by the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO). 1999 Official Publication of the Association of American Feed Control Officials, p. 221. In addition, advances in bioengineering have demonstrated that a genetic characteristic from one species, including bacteria, can be inserted into the DNA of another species. One important example is the insertion of the gene responsible for the production of an insecticidal protein from Bacillus thuringiensis into the DNA of corn seeds. The resultant corn plant is able to produce a protein which kills insect pests such as the corn rootworm, thereby producing healthier corn plants and improved per-acre yields.